If there’s one thing scarier than a robot, it’s a robot that can adapt its design to be more appealing to people. Glowbots do just that.

These little guys go through various random images in order to attract a human to pick them up. When picked up and given a shake, they lock in that image and then spread the likable image to other Glowbots so they too can be attractive. If they run into another Glowbot that has a differing likable image, they meld the two together to create a totally different image that the user will hopefully like.

The scary thing about this is that if robots can learn our likes and dislikes, how will that affect our lives? Will animals give way to a smartphone Furby? Or maybe someone could use the data stored on your robot to know exactly what to get you for your birthday. In fact, you could connect it to your online profile, allowing people to see what restaurants you like, clothes you find attractive, even what you like to do in your spare time. And this is all done through a personal robot.

Do we need to worry about something like this? Probably not. Robots becoming more friendly is the way of the future (even deadly ones will seem friendly) and learning your habits is just part of the whole picture.